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Gerry James
Edwin Fitzgerald James (October 22, 1934 – February 13, 2024) was a Canadian professional football and ice hockey player. He played as a running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) between 1952 and 1964 and as a right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1960. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, like his father, Eddie James, who also played for the Blue Bombers. James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.
In a period overlapping the 1959 CFL season and 1959–60 NHL season, James became the only player to play in the CFL's Grey Cup (November 28, 1959 – won cup) and the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals (first game April 9, 1960 – lost cup) in the same season.
A graduate of Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, James started his CFL career in 1952 when he became one of the youngest players ever to play in the CFL, at only 17 years old. (Tom Manastersky was several months younger when he joined the Montreal Alouettes in 1946).
As a kicker and a running back in the Bombers' powerful "run by committee" system, James helped the team to six Grey Cup appearances (1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962), earning four victories (1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962). This committee system over the years included Lorne Benson, Tom Casey, Leo Lewis, Bob McNamara and Charlie Shepard.
In the 1957 season, James scored 19 touchdowns, one short of the record set a year earlier by Pat Abbruzzi. He did however set a CFL record with 18 rushing touchdowns, which stood alone until it was tied by Jim Germany in 1981 and was finally surpassed by Mike Pringle with 19 in the 2000 season. James rushed the ball 197 times for 1,192 yards that season. He was part of the Blue Bombers until 1963, then played in 1964 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
When he retired from the CFL, James was the second all-time leading Canadian running back with totals of 994 carries for 5,554 yards and 57 touchdowns, behind only Normie Kwong. James was a two-time winner – 1954 and 1957 – of the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian award. He was also the second Canadian born player to rush for over 1000 yards in a season (by only 9 days) when he tallied 1205 yards in 1955.
James was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1981, joining his father, Eddie James, who was inducted in 1963.
James was also a professional ice hockey right winger who played a total of 164 games in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs over five seasons in the late 50s (1954-55 to 1959-60), playing in 149 regular season games and 15 playoff games, finishing with 41 career points (15 goals and 26 assists).
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Gerry James
Edwin Fitzgerald James (October 22, 1934 – February 13, 2024) was a Canadian professional football and ice hockey player. He played as a running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) between 1952 and 1964 and as a right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1960. He is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, like his father, Eddie James, who also played for the Blue Bombers. James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.
In a period overlapping the 1959 CFL season and 1959–60 NHL season, James became the only player to play in the CFL's Grey Cup (November 28, 1959 – won cup) and the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals (first game April 9, 1960 – lost cup) in the same season.
A graduate of Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, James started his CFL career in 1952 when he became one of the youngest players ever to play in the CFL, at only 17 years old. (Tom Manastersky was several months younger when he joined the Montreal Alouettes in 1946).
As a kicker and a running back in the Bombers' powerful "run by committee" system, James helped the team to six Grey Cup appearances (1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962), earning four victories (1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962). This committee system over the years included Lorne Benson, Tom Casey, Leo Lewis, Bob McNamara and Charlie Shepard.
In the 1957 season, James scored 19 touchdowns, one short of the record set a year earlier by Pat Abbruzzi. He did however set a CFL record with 18 rushing touchdowns, which stood alone until it was tied by Jim Germany in 1981 and was finally surpassed by Mike Pringle with 19 in the 2000 season. James rushed the ball 197 times for 1,192 yards that season. He was part of the Blue Bombers until 1963, then played in 1964 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
When he retired from the CFL, James was the second all-time leading Canadian running back with totals of 994 carries for 5,554 yards and 57 touchdowns, behind only Normie Kwong. James was a two-time winner – 1954 and 1957 – of the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian award. He was also the second Canadian born player to rush for over 1000 yards in a season (by only 9 days) when he tallied 1205 yards in 1955.
James was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1981, joining his father, Eddie James, who was inducted in 1963.
James was also a professional ice hockey right winger who played a total of 164 games in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs over five seasons in the late 50s (1954-55 to 1959-60), playing in 149 regular season games and 15 playoff games, finishing with 41 career points (15 goals and 26 assists).